Cheeking machine



March 22 19 27 D. E. HARDING CHEEKING MACHINE Fil g Mgv13, 1925 3Sheets-Sheet 1 UNI HIIW Hlllllllli March 22, 1927. 1,621,982

D. E. HARDING CHEEKING MACHI NE Filed May 13, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 i L95 3- M i KW W X 2 1.9 March 27 E. HARDING CHEEKING MACHINE Filed May13; 1925 3 Sheets-$heet 3 QML A Patented Mar. 22, 1927.

units stares as sna DANA E. HARDING, F ARLINGTQN, MASiACHUESETTS,ASSIGNOR TO HARDING ENGI- NIElEIBIlSTG COMPANY, OF. EAST BOElTON,MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MAS- SACH USETTS.

OHEEKING MACHINE.

Application filed May 13, 1925. Serial No. 30,031.

formed in a checking machine and in which machine it is necessary thatthe hide or skin be held by main force against the thrust exerted by theknife or knives. Such operation, therefore, has been both exceedinglylaborious and exceedingly dangerous, as the amount taken off the hide orskin had to be gauged by the Workman, was irregular, and uneven, and thehide often torn, the product resulting therefrom being very uneven incharacter.

With a view to overcoming objections to prior machines of this type andto dispense with, ar as possible, manual holdingengaging of the hide orskin I have devised the subject matter of the present invention whereinan improved checking machine is provided with hide or skin holdingmechanism and in which the thickness of the hide or skin to be presentin the finished product is automatically gauged.

The principal object, therefore, of my 1nvention is an improved checkingmachine.

Another object of my invention is an imed means for holding a hide orskin the checking operation.

A further object of my invention is an improved cutting knife and methodof mounting the same applicable to leather w. .ing machines, togetherwith safety oevices protecting the operator.

(Ether objects and novel features of the ("or action and arrangement ofparts 0011 p1 my invention Will be apparent the description of theinvention progresses.

In the accompanying drawings illustra ting the preferred embodiment ofmy in= vention,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation;

F 2 is a side elevation;

Fig. 2-3 is a fragmei'itary detail plan View showing the cutting knifereciprocating means;

Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation on the line fit i of Fig. 1 and with thehide holding or cl'ainping in holding position;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional detail of a portion of Fig. t showingthe hide holding i in open posit-ion, and

Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation on the line 6-6 of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings, 10 and 11 designate right and left endmembers respectively spaced apart from, and held in fixed position by,longitudinal members 12 ad jacent to the lower ends thereof. Thesemembers 12 are secured to the end members 10 and 11 by belts or rivets13. Secured to the upper rear ends of the end members 10 and 11 by boltsor rivets la is a longitudi nally extending member 15. Secured to theupper surface of the members 10 and 11 and in alignment with each otherare beari'i'igs 16 and in these bearings is rotatably mount ed a shaft17. Secured to the outer face of the rectangular member 11 by bolts 18is a bearing strut 19 in which is formed a hear ing 20 that is inalignment with the bearings 16. Rotatably mounted in the bearing 20 is ashaft- 21, and connecting the shafts 17 and 21 is a one revolutionclutch 22, an annular groove 2 being formed in such member. Secured tothe member 19 and extending inwardly toward the rectangular member 11 isa shaft 2 1 and rotatably mounted on the shaft 2 1 is a pinion 25 thatmeshes with,

and drives, a gear 26 secured to the shaft 21 by pin 27. Secured to thepinion 25 is a gear 28 which meshes with, and is driven by, a pinion 29secured to a shaft 30 that is ro tatahly mounted in a bearing in themember 19 and in a bearing member 31 secured to, or forn-ied'integralwith, the rectangular member 11. Mounted on the shaft are the f andloose pulleys and 33 respectively and over whichmay run" belts extendingfrom any suitable source of power. v

liotatably mounted in the rectangular members 10 and 11 adjacent to thebottom thereof is a shaft 3% and on this shaft is secured a treadle 35and by means of which allv attach d to the free end of a m-em'l r 38pivotally mounted on a shaft 138 secure to -a member 89 on the end'member 11. Fina-he'd on the side face of the member 2 58 andextendinglaterally outward therefrom is a lug 40. This lug is perforated to allowfree passage of a threaded bolt 41, nuts 42 being threaded on such boltfor adjustment purposes as will be hereinafter described. The upper endof this bolt 41 is pivotally attached to one arm 43 of a bell cranklever that is pivotally mounted in a bearing 44 formed on the member 11.The other arm, 45, of this bell crank lever is forked to fit into theannular groove 23 in the clutch 22, the ends of the forks being providedwith rollers 46 to lessen the friction therebetween. llhen the treadleis operated, the free end of the arm 36 moves upward, causing the lug 40on the member 38 to move into engagement with the upper pair of nuts 42,thereby moving the forked ends of the arm to the left, as viewed in Fig.l, and causing the clutch member 22 to be operated in a manner toconnect the shafts 21 and 17. The clutch is, or may be, any of the wellknown forms of one revolution clutches, and the details of such clutchwill not, therefore, be described.

Secured to the shaft 17 between the rectangular members 10 and 11 isa'sector 47,

this sector including a portion of a cylinder,

and opposite thereto a locking depression 48 for a purpose to behereinafter described. Secured to each end of the sector 47 by bolts orrivets 49 are members 50. Formed integral with each member 50 andextending radially outward from the shaft 17 is an arm 51 and to theouter end of this arm is pivotally mounted, intermediate its ends. alever 52. Extending between the levers 52 ,and secured thereto at eachend thereof by bolts 53 is a locking bar 54 which cooperates with thelocking groove 48 to lock or retain a hide or skin in position on thesector. Also formed integral with the members 50 and extending radiallyoutward from the shaft 17 are members Pivot-ally mounted in each of themembers 55 is a lever 56. To one end of the levcr'56 is pivotallyattached a member or link 57, this member being provided with a reducedend 58. This reduced end is threaded to receive an adjusting nut 59 anda nember 60, the member 60 being pivotally attached to the lever 52. Themember 57 and the lever 56 at their point of connection are providedwith cooperating faces 61 and 62 which, as will be seen from aninspection of Fig. 4, prevents too far a movement of the joining pointbeyond a straight line joining the pivotal mounting of the lever 56 andthe pivotal connection of the member 60 with the lever Secured to theshaft 34 is a rearwardly extending arm 63 equal in length to therearwardly extending arm 36. Pivotally secured to the free end of thearm 63 is a curved link 64, the purpose of the curvature in said linkbeing to clear a conveying belt to be hereinafter described. Pivotallyattached to the upper end of the link 64 is a lever 65 similar in allrespects to the lever 38 above described as being pivotally connected tothe link 37. This lever 65 is rotatably mounted on a shaft 66 secured ina bearing member 67 formed integral with, or attached to, the end member10. Rotatably mounted on the free end of each of the levers 56 is aroller 68 and these rollers engage with semi-circular cam members 69secured to the end members 10 and 11 by bolts or rivets 70. Referring toFig. 4, which shows the sector 47 having a hide 71 securely held inposition thereon by means of the clamp bar 54, it will'be obvious that,with the roller 68 at each end of the sector engaging with the innersurface of the cam member 69, it will be impossible for the clamp bar 54to move from its locking position. If the sector 47 is rotating in thedirection of the arrow shown in Fig. 4, it will be evident that, whenthe roller 68 clears the upper end of the cam member 69, the clampmembers 54 can be moved away from the locking groove 48 if a way isfound to break the toggle joint between the member 47 and the lever 56.To accomplish this, I have secured at the upper end of each of the endmembers 10 and 11 brackets 72 in the upper end of each of which is arearwardly extending bolt 73. Formed integral with each of the levers 56is a lug 74 which, in the rotative movement of the sector, 47, isbrought into engagement with the end of the bolt 73. The sector 47rotating in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 4, it will beobvious that the engagement of the lugs 74 with the bolt 73 will cause arotative movement of the lever 56 about its pivotal connection with themember 55, breaking the toggle between the member 57 and the lever 56and moving the levers and links 52, 57, and 56 from the position shownin Fig. 4 to the position shown in Fig. 5, and in moving into thisposition, it will be obvious that the clamp bar 54 is moved out of theclamping groove in the sector 47 and allowing the hide or skin 71 toslide off the sector 47 by gravity. Refer-- ring to Fig. 5, it will benoted that the roller 68 is now in such a position that, if the sector47 were to be rotated in the direction of the arrow shown, such roller68 would ride on the outside surface of the cam member 69. To accomplishthis, I have secured to the right hand end of the shaft 17 a groovedpulley 75 and to this pulley attach one end of a flexible cord 76. Inorder to clear the conveying mechanism above referred to and to behereinafter described, I lead the flexible cord 76 over a grooved pulley77 that is rotatably mounted on a shaft 78 secured to the end member 10,and to the lower end of this flexible cord 76 attach a suitable weight79. The weight 79 causes a rotative movement of the pulley 75 and acorresponding rotation of the shaft 17 and sector 47 in the direction ofthe arrow shown in Fig. 5, bringing the system of levers above referredto from the position shown in F ig. 5 into the position shown in Fig.lVhen in the posi tion shown. in Fig. 2, each of the rollers 68 movesinto engagement with pockets 80 formed on the levers 38 and 65. Thelower end of each of the cam members 69 is provided with bevelled faces81 and 82, the faces 81 moving the rollers 68 upward and to the right,as viewed in Figs. 2 and 4, and the faces 82 allowing a movement upwardand to the left, as viewed in said figures. When, therefore, the treadleis operated, the links 37 are moved upwardly and the pockets in thelevers 38 and 65 rotate the levers 56, moving the rollers 68 along thefaces 81 and into position to engage with the faces As above described,and simultaneously with the upward movement of the rollers 68, theclutch 22 is operated to cause a rotative movement of the shaft 17 andattached parts in the direction of the arrow shown in Figs. 2 and Durin-the upward movement of the rollers 68, the system of levers abovedescribed is moved from the position shown in Fig. relative to thesector 47 and into the position shown in Fig. 4, it being understood, ofcourse, that, prior to the operation of the treadle 35, a hide or skin71 has been placed on the sector 47 as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2,so that, when the system of levers is moved as above described, the hideor skin 71 is firmly clamped to the sector 47.

Secured to the longitudinally extending member 15 are brackets 83', andsecured to the top of the brackets and extending parallel to the member15 is a bevelled guide 84. Slidably mounted on the bevelled guide 84,with provision for adjustment, is a slide 85. i ldjustably mounted onthe top of the slide 85 by means of bolts 86 is a knife holder 87.Formed integral with the slide 85 is a lug 88 and rotatably mounted inthis lug an adjusting screw 89 which engages with the knife holder 87.The screw 89 is provided with. a. knurled head 90 and by means of which.the screw maybe rotated and this head is provided with a series ofgraduations cooperating with the indicating mark on. the lug 88 and bymeans of which the inward and out-ward movement of the knife holder 87may be measured. On the front face of the knife holder 87 is mounted forvertical movement therein a knife 91, screws 92 being provided formoving said knife downwardly with respect to the holder. The cuttingedge of such knife lies adjacent to the path of movement of the surfaceof the sector 47, as clearly shown in Fig. 4, and by means of the screws92, 86, and 90the position of the knife edge with respect to said sectormay be accurately adjusted. On one end of the slide 85 are formed lugs93 and mounted in said lugs is a shaft 94 on which is rotatably mountedone end of a connecting rod 95. Secured to the longitudinally extendingmember 15 and the rectangular end member 11 is a member 96, androtatably mounted in suitable bearings formed in said member is a shaft97. Secured to said shaft by pin 98 is an eccentric 99 which engageswith an cecentric strap 100 formed on the connecting rod 95. Secured tothe shaft 97 by pin 101 is a bevelled pinion 102 which meshes with, andis driven by, a bevelled pinion 103 secured by pin 104 to the upper endof a shaft 105 that is rotatably mounted in suitable bearings 106 formedon the member 96. Se cured to the lower end of the shaft 105 by pin 107is a bevelled pinion 108 which meshes with, and is driven by, a bevelledgear 109 secured to the inner end of the shaft 30 by pin 110.

Secured to the end of the shaft 97 remote from the bevelled pinion 102is a sprocket 111 which is in alignment with a sprocket .112 secured toa shaft 113. This shaft 113 is rotatably mounted in suitable bearings114 secured to the under surface of the members 12. Over the sprockets111 and 112 runs a chain 115 and by means of which rotary movement isimparted to the shaft 113 from the shaft 97. Secured to the shaft 113 isa roller pulley 116 andover this pulley runs a conveying belt 117, thebelt acting to move the hides or skins'71 that may fall thereon upwardand to the right of the machine, as

viewed in Fig. 1. In order to prevent sag ging of the upper reach of theconveyor belt 117 I provide a second roller pulley 118 that is securedto a shaft 119 rotatably mounted in bearings formed directly in themembers 12. it is to clear this conveyor belt 117 that the link 64 abovedescribed was made curved.

Extending forwardly and downwardly from the brackets 83 are arms 120 andin each of these arms is secured an inwardly ex tending shaft. 121.Rotatably mounted on the shaft is a bar 122 that extends parallel to theknife 91 and in this bar is a guide blade 12; the upper edge of theguide blade lying parallel to, but below, the cutting blade 91, theobject of this guide blade being to guide the leather into positionagainst the cutting edge of the knife 91. 0

The operation of my improved machine is as follows, it being assumedthat the parts havebeen assembled as above described and that themechanism is in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The operator,standing in front of the machine, takes a hide or skin 7 off a pile,which is usually arranged at his lett side, and passes it over thesector 47 with the cheeks 124 extending downwardly,

as shown in F hrs. 1 and 2. Having positioned the hide or skin, theoperator presses on the treadle 35, lifting; the links 37 and 64 upward,causing an upward movement. about the pivot point of th levers 38 and65. The rollers 68 resting on the pockets 80 in the levers 38 and aremoved upward to bring the rollers into position to engage with the face82 on the cam members 69, and during this upward movement the levers 52are rotated about their pivot point, moving the system of levers andlinks 52, 57, and 56 from the position shown in Fig. 1 (with respect tothe sector 47) and into the position shown in Fig. 4; that is, with theclamp bar 54 clamping the hide or skin 71 firmly at the clamping groove48, as shown in Fig. 4. Simultaneously with this rotative movement ofthe lever 52 the lug 40 on lever 38 engages with the upper nuts 42 onthe member 41 causing the operation of the clutch mechanism 22 by meansof the bell crank lever associated therewith. When the clutch is inoperation, the shaft 17 rotates in the direction of the arrow shown inFigs. 2 and 4 and in its rotation carrying the sector 47 in such amanner as to bring the hide or skin into engagement with the cuttingblade 91. It has been assumed that power has been transmitted from thefast pulley 32 through the shaft 30 and the system of gearing 29, 28,25, and 26 to the shaft 21. The rotation of the shaft 30 causes, bymeans of the bevelled gear 109, bevelled pinion 108, shaft 105, bevelledpinions 103 and 102 a rotation of the shaft 97. The eccentric 99 thereoncooperating with the eccentric strap 100 on the connecting rod 95 causesa reciprocating movement of the slide 85, carrying the knife 91, so thatit is obvious that, as the hide or skin 71 is moved past the knife 91,the cut ting is performed with a reciprocatory motion. When the shaft 17is rotated to a point just beyond the position shown in Fig. 4,

the roller 68 will have become disengaged with the inner surface of thecam 69 and allowing the operation of breaking the toggle between themembers 56 and 57 and moving the system of levers and links (withrespect to the sector 47) from the position shown in Fig. 4 to theposition shown in Fig. 5. During the rotative movement of the shaft 17,there was wound up on the pulley a cord 7 6 that carries at its free endthe weight 79. Simultaneously with the engagement of the lugs 74 withthe bolts 73, the one revolution clutch 22 is thrust out of action andfor a moment the shaft 17 is brought to rest. When the system of leversand links is moved into position shown in Fig. 5, the hide or skin 71 byits own weight falls off the sector 47 and onto the conveyor belt 117,this belt being rotated from the shaft 97 by means of the chain 115 asabove described. The clutch 22 being disengaged from the shaft 17, theweight 79, through the cord 76, rotates the shaft 17 and attached partsin the reverse direction from that above described; that is, in thedirection indicated by the arrow in Fig. 5. Referring to Fig. 5, it willbe noted that the roller 68 now occupies such a position relative to thecam 69 that, when the shaft 17 rotates in the direction of the arrowshown in such figure, the roller 68 will engage with the upper or outersurface of the cam member 69 and will be brought into the pockets on thelevers 38 and 65 preparatory to a further operation.

While I have necessarily shown and described the preferred embodiment ofmy invention somewhat in detail, it is understood that I may vary thesize, shape, and arrangement of parts within wide limits withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is:

1. An improved cheeking machine, comprising a rotatably mounted shaft, adriving member therefor, a one revolution clutch con necting said shaftwith said driving member, a cheeking knife, a hide holding sectoroperatively associated therewith, means for holding a hide on saidsector, locking means for the hide holding means including a stationarycam, and means for releasing the holding means from locked position at apredetermined point in the revolution of the shaft.

2. In an improved checking machine, the combination of a hide holdingsector provided with a cylindrical operating surface, a longitudinalgroove formed in said sector on the side thereof opposite said operatingsurface, a locking bar, pivotally mounted levers at each end of saidbar, bell crank levers at each end of the sector, connecting rods extending between each end of the levers and one arm of the bell cranklevers, and means for operating the bell crank levers to move thelocking bar into locking position with respect to said groove.

In an improved cheeking machine, the combination of a hide holdingsector provided with a cylindrical operating surface, a longitudinalgroove formed in said sector on the side thereof opposite said operatingsurface, a locking bar, pivotally mounted levers at each end of saidbar, bell crank levers at each end of the sector, connecting rodsextending between each end of the levers and one arm of the bell cranklevers, cam rollers mounted on each of said bell crank levers,stationary cam cooperating with said cam rollers, and means for rotatingthe bell crank levers into position to bring the look ing bar intoassociation with the locking groove and the cam rollers into associationwith the stationary cam whereby the locking bar is maintained in lookingposition for a predetermined portion of the revolution of the shaft.

4. In an improved checking machine, the combination of a rotatablymounted shaft, a

driving member therefor, a clutch for connecting the driving member andthe shaft for rotating the shaft through one revolution, a checkingcylinder mounted on said shaft, a locking groove in said cylinder, alocking bar associated With said locking groove, means for moving saidlocking bar into association with the locking groove to hold a hide inposition on said cheeking cylinder during a predetermined portion of therevolution of said shaft, means for automatically releasing said lockinghar there after, a checking knife adjustahly and slidably mounted inoperative association With the cylinder, and means for automaticallycontrolling the operation of said connecting clutch.

5. An improved cheeking machine, comprising a rotatably mounted shaft, ahide holding sector secured to said shaft and rotatable therewith, alongitudinal groove on said sector, a toggle operated locking devicecooperating therewith, and means for automatically holding the hide inclamped position on the sector during the rotation of such sector.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

DANA E. HARDING.

